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Throwback Thursday

The homestead sometime in the late 1970s/early 80s (left) and in 2013 (right).

Back in time for another Throwback Thursday #TBT flashback/flashforward. In the latest incarnation of Zillow sales histories are online, including photos and descriptions from past marketing listings. So I went back to the house that I spent the bulk of my childhood in, from Kindergarten through sophomore year in high school. Turns out it was most recently on the market in early 2013, and the photos and description remain online. The link is here.

Going through the interior shots, the house has been freshened with new carpets, paint and finishes, but still looks remarkably similar to how it was 30+ years ago. Even the front door is the same. The kitchen has the same cabinets, just painted white and with new appliances. The pool is the same, except for having added a perimeter fence.

Being very eco-70s, our family chose to have live Christmas trees each year and planted them in the back yard after the holidays. A couple of the trees remain, though much bigger than when they stood in the living room!

For this week’s Throwback comes an old photo of a house in Scottsdale my family had put a deposit on, but then backed out of. It was 1979 and we were outgrowing our modest Hallcraft house, so we fixed our sights on a new subdivision a few miles north. The house had bedrooms for all of us, plus another to spare, but after mulling it over and contemplating the disruption of the move (we’d have to change schools), we decided to stay put. Also at the time there was a horse ranch behind the house, and my mom feared it would be developed. She was right – it was developed into another subdivision a few years later. Fortunately the deposit was refundable.

Here’s the snapshot of the newly completed house in 1979, taken with my 126 camera:

Here is the Google Earth view today:

…and lo and behold, it is currently for sale. Here is the current marketing photo from the real estate listing:

Going back home to check on things is easy with Google Earth at hand. In a box of old photos I came across recently there were a few photos of our old house back in Scottsdale. Based on the paint colors I’d date the photos to the late 70s or very early 80s. It was a simple house, one of thousands built by Hallcraft Homes in a subdivision called Park Scottsdale.